glass thermometer

[heathlindner25]

in those glass thermometers that you can buy a aquarium, the cheap ones at petsmart, what are the black beads at the bottom of it made from? and are they toxic to a tank?

 

[thanh386]

If its mercury and if it shatters, but it's more accurate than the digital coral life ones

 

[heathlindner25]

well it broke in my tank I'm trying to figure out what the black beans are? the red thermometer liquid stuff was self sealed and didn't break, but the black beads fell in my sand. I vacuumed them out but was wondering if I should worry

 

[thanh386]

Make sure it's not beads of mercury

 

[heathlindner25]

doesn't murcury stay in liquid form?

Edit: I think I'm alright I just read its steel shot, type of ballast

 

[sewer urchin]

Typically the beads are a weight of some type... the old school ones might have used lead. Now days it's iron or steel (it rusts pretty good) see if it is magnetic and if they are try a mag scraper to get it out.

Most of the time the stuff inside the thermometer is alcohol with a dye in it. There are mercury ones out there but they tend to be more expensive